1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to the field of tools and principally to apparatus and a combination tool for slitting sheathed three-conductor cable and installing same in a specially prepared electrical fixture.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In my copending applications Ser. Nos. 567,515, 567,540, and 567,688, all filed on Apr. 14, 1975 as divisional cases divided out of application Ser. No. 512,414 filed on Oct. 7, 1974 for Electrical Receptacle, and all assigned to the assignee of the instant invention, there is shown and described an insulated electrical receptacle and various embodiments thereof which include a two-part assembly comprising a box and cover portion, the box portion containing insulation piercing contact elements arranged to penetrate the insulation and engage the conductive portion of a slit segment of sheathed two or three conductor electrical cable in which the individually insulated conductors are initially arranged in a common plane within an outer insulative sheath, the cable being commonly employed as electrical wiring for building structures and the like. Preparation of the cable for installation in such fixtures has heretofore generally been accomplished by carefully slitting the outer sheath with a pocket knife or other similar convenient tool to avoid nicking or damaging the insulative covering surrounding each wire. The sheath is thereafter removed or folded back to provide access to the inner conductors which are then suitably spread apart for insertion into the specially prepared electrical fixture. The manner in which the installation of the cable into the receptacle is accomplished is fully described in the above noted applications. Briefly, however, the slit and preformed portion of the cable is suitably positioned in the cover portion of the receptacle and the cover and cable thereafter suitably positioned over the exposed opening in the box portion of the device. The box and cover are then forcibly urged together causing the conductors to be engaged by the specially configured contacts within the box portion to establish a secure and reliable electrical connection therebetween. A significant portion of the time and labor required to complete such a connection results from the relatively tedious and time consuming operation required to manually slit the sheath and preform the conductors for insertion in the fixture in accordance with the above described prior art method. A prior art device designed to accomplish the slitting and forming operation is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,846,894 issued to Parsons et al on Nov. 17, 1974. This device, however, employs a pair of totally exposed slicing blades which are affixed to a handle member and rotated into slicing position by actuation of the handle. The exposed blades are provided with sharp slicing edges which may readily cause injury to an operator during the course of use of the tool. The direct pivotal coupling between the handle and the slicing blades also results in a less than optimum force applying arrangement resulting in the necessity for exerting a rather large force to accomplish the slicing and forming operation.